Group items tagged

The Disability.gov website is the federal government web portal whose purpose is to provide comprehensive information on disability programs and services nationwide in order to connect people of all abilities to the resources they need to fully participate in their communities. It achieves this purpose by providing over 14,000 links to federal, state, and local government agencies, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations. The Disability.gov website is managed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) which reviews web content and links voluntarily. I found Disability.gov to be a valuable website full of reliable and unbiased information in the areas of benefits, civil rights, community life, education, emergency preparedness, employment, health, housing, technology, and transportation for individuals with disabilities, their families, Veterans, caregivers, employers, educators, and others. The Disability.gov website scored a strong "5" on the Discern Instrument and also performed well on the Hoss and Hansen (2008) website review.

The Wrightslaw webpage on Assistive Technology examines the Law regarding Assistive Technology. In doing so it references IDEA 2004 and defines both Assistive Technology Devices and Services. Wrightslaw also addresses Assistive Technology Training, Evaluation, and Universal Design for Learning. The target audience for the Wrightslaw website includes parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys who are seeking accurate, reliable information regarding special education law and advocacy for children with disabilities.

The St. Clair County RESA Website provides information regarding Assistive Technology iPad Apps which can be accessed by selecting the Education Services Menu, selecting the iPads link, and then clicking on Assistive Technology iPad Apps. The webpage contains a list of iPad Apps each providing a link to an iTunes page with the cost of the app, its icon, description, screenshots and customer reviews. The St. Clair County RESA Website provides quality information regarding education services and resources for the residents of St. Clair County.

Information on assistive technology in education through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Provides information about what AT is, AT resources, and AT lending library.

Learning Ally is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote personal achievement when access and reading are barriers to learning by advancing the use of accessible and effective educational solutions. Learning Ally is the world's leading provider of audio textbooks and literature. The website provides information for Parents & Students, Educators, Adult Learners, Volunteers and Donors.

The purpose of the Wisconsin Accessible Media Productions (WAMP) website is to assist the local school districts in obtaining accessible education materials in specialized formats. The site is designed to assist Wisconsin educators in locating K-12 textbooks in accessible formats. The WAMP provides many resources including an equipment loan program and a link to the NIMAC (National Instructional Materials Access Center).

Teens Succeeding with Technology: The TeST program is a collection of four video trainings; each training incorporates innovative, web-based technologies and resources to help high school students with disabilities transition successfully to post-secondary education and careers.

I used the Discern handbook in order to rate this website. When I added up my scores and divide by 15, I came up with a score of slightly higher than '3' (out of 5), which through subjective measures and perusing of the website is probably where I would have placed it. I was initially very excited when I found this website because I thought it would be a great tool. It is why I initially chose it. However, upon careful examination and thorough investigation, I find that while it does have some great links, tools, and information, it remains incomplete. Using this website as a small starting point for AT in education would be a good thing; however, you would also need to look further for a well put together website and one that would score higher on the Discern checklist.

The CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) organization is devoted to expanding learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning (UDL). I found the CAST website to be a high-quality, valuable resource for educators and gave it a score of 5 on the DISCERN Instrument. The CAST Website defines UDL extensively and provides links to resources detailing how educators can implement UDL for their students. The website also provides a multitude of resources in their Research & Development, Learning Tools, Professional Devepment, and Library sections. I will refer back to the CAST website often to learn more about UDL and access tools for students.

This site is maintained by a Speech Language Pathologist who shares her experiences and reviews of apps used in working with a variety of students. The reviews are subjective, and only from her point of view, but they do seem thorough and based in her actual experience working with the apps. The site is geared toward SLPs, parents and educators.

The FCTD is a resource designed to help those that work with children or adults with disabilities or families of loved ones with disabilities. In the resource section there are over 1000 reviews of products and websites that pertain to AT. The FCTD operates entirely through program support from the Department of Education'sOffice of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and it is managed by a partnership of organizations, including Adirondack Accessibility, Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights (PACER) and the Center on Disability at the Public Health Institute. Their Board of Advisors are many well-known names that specialize in AT, including David Edyburn and Joe Zabala.

This training opportunity is geared toward professionals learning how to integrate AT in the educational environment. Modules include AAC, Hearing, Mobility, Reading, The User Interface, Vision, Writing (including Computer Access). Also explores funding options.

This is a nicely put together WIKI page with links to things that are free. They can be used for UDL or for special education students.

bookshare offers free e-books/auditory for persons with qualifying disabilities. a lot of free Webinars, learning modules etc.

Short video describing switch use in the classroom to create an interactive classroom tool, which can be changed easily to reflect current classroom need. I thought that this was a neat example of some of the things we've been discussing in class. Designed by Early Child Special Educators in Grand Rapids, MN.

The GPAT website supports the local school systems in Georgia; however, their website is a valuable tool for those in need of AT assistance for education.

The Maine CITE web site that is committed to "helping Maine citizens with disabilities increase access to and acquisition of Assistive Technology (AT) when needed to participate in Education, Community Living, Employment and Information Technology/Telecommunications". It achieves this goal by providing information and links regarding items ranging from AT Laws and Policies to Accessible Web Design to Training. The target audience of the Maine CITE includes people with disabilities, their families, and the general public. The information presented in regard to apps on their Apps as Assistive Technology page is basically the name of the app and the developer. Maine CITE recommends that the reader go to the appropriate "app store" to review ratings and comments regarding the app. The Maine Cite webpage regarding apps has a "Buyer Beware" notice that indicates that "consumers need to do their homework and examine the quality of each purchase/download carefully". The Apps as Assistive Technology page also has a set of links to articles reviewing apps.

Target Audience: Many people visit Disability.gov, including individuals with disabilities, their families, Veterans, caregivers, employers, educators and others. Their purpose is to connect people of all abilities to the resources they need to fully participate in their communities.

Disability Resources, inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established to promote and improve awareness, availability and accessibility of information that can help people with disabilities live, learn, love, work and play independently. They serve thousands of individuals with disabilities through a multidisciplinary network of service providers and consumers. In order to reach as many people with disabilities as cost effectively as possible, they target our services and publications to libraries, disability organizations, independent living centers, rehabilitation facilities, educational institutions, and health and social service providers. They are a small group of volunteers (with and without disabilities) who work professionally in library, communications, and disability-related fields. They monitor hundreds of publications, audiovisual materials, on line services, and other information resources every month. They review and report on worthwhile materials in their newsletter, Disability Resources Monthly (DRM), and other publications. They also maintain an extensive database of disability-related resources in order to perform customized searches, and an on-line guide to disability resources on the World Wide Web. They are proud of the many awards and positive reviews they have received for this work.

this is a nice collection of downloadable visual supports for special needs students. It is provided by the Special Education Technology of British Columbia. It is easy to search through one of the six categories to find Boardmaker pictures already for you to print and use. There are boards that can be printed for language use or visual support in the classroom and then there are boards that are specific to communication devices to download and print for the device, such as a Go Talk, or to download and transfer to a computerized dynamic display device, such as a ChatPC.